Monday, September 29, 2014

I was thinking today and I am in the second largest mission in
the United States but I think the population is the smallest, seriously
everywhere in my entire mission is pretty much a small town and I really am
digging this small town life. I live in the literal Wild West like no joke.... we
are still here down here. I got to rope cows this week. I have realized how
much of a sissy I was before the mission like no joke, when I first came out
all the hicks would call me a city boy, but know that I have grown into a
man and can rope cattle, cook bbq and know pretty much everything you could
ever want to know and need to know about cows, horses and building your own
house. I have finally been accepted into the southern cowboy life, I have
become a cowboy in a way and I’m so down.

This week was really cool. We got to volunteer at food drive
where we put all of the food into bags for people who needed it and there were
a ton of people there in the back room doing it. And the people in charge
of this huge assembly line thing came up to me and Elder Hammond and asked us
out of the like 80 people there, if we wanted to be the ones to hand out the
food to those who needed it. It was such a blessing to see the faces of the
people who truly needed food and how grateful they were that we were willing to
help them. It changed me too see how truly blessed we are to have the things which
we have. At the food drive I saw a lot of people that I talk to all of the
time and you would have no idea that they were struggling because they are
always working and they never ask anyone for anything.... we truly need to be
thankful for the little things in life. Like every piece of food that we are
blessed with, and every minute of life, it’s the little things that truly
matter.

A quote in a letter that I got the other day that I really liked
was "It’s a wonderful world we live in" man it really is this
world is awesome, think of the beauty in it think of the sky and the sun and the
stars and the moon. I took trees and clean air and water and hills and
mountains and my family and my friends and my car and my life for granted when
I was home. But never again. I love you guys be safe out there in the world. I
love you.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The sun is up, the sky is blue, it’s beautiful and so are you
dear… (everyone reading this message)…

It is a beautiful world here in Portales. I say a lot that it isn’t
very pretty, but you know I really can’t say that, it’s got that nice flat plain-y
look going for it, with the tumbleweed wild-west cowboy dash to it. I can dig
it :)

Going 14 months strong, it has gone by at the exact speed that
it has needed too. Some missionaries say it goes by way too fast and
others way way too slow, but really if you just enjoy the moment it will go the
exact speed it needs too. I am staying here for another 6 weeks and we are
becoming a trio and getting an Elder Ross. He is becoming the newest “mousekateer”.
On that note I would say one of the best ways to wake up is to look down and
see a mouse caught on a stick trap right next to your bed. It’s just a good feeling
:), but I got him and I think he is the last of the bunch. Also the only thing
better than one bouncy castle......is two bouncy castles. (Pictures included).

Okay on a more awesome note. This week Tyler turned 14. And his
father is not a member, so he asked me to ordain him to the office of a teacher
in the Aaronic priesthood. I accepted. This is the 4th or 5th time on my
mission I have been able to do something like this, but this time it was
different. When I went into the room to ordain him and his whole family was
sitting there, I was overcome. I was giving this family the priesthood it desperately
needed in its home. Though he may be young, Tyler is taking on a huge responsibility
being the priesthood holder in his home. It is a powerful yet wonderful gift
given to those worthy males who will use it to bless their family. It’s
weird to me how much I cry on my mission. Every time I give a blessing I cry, I
have taught the discussions well over a thousand time I feel like, but there is
still so much power in God’s plan for us that I still seem to bawl every time.

Also please go to the temple as much as possible, I miss it so
much, so please go for those of us who have to wait and not go as often, I just
wanted to throw that in there.

This week has been a good one, I’ve learned a lot about how
important it is to have the priesthood in your home. I am going to be bold
and say this but every father should have the priesthood, it changes a home and
a family, brings you closer together. I am so grateful for the priesthood
and how it has been restored. The gospel is real. The same power Jesus Christ
had is on the earth, so let us not waste it.

I love you all so much and be safe out there it’s a mad mad mad
mad mad world.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Here we
are at the end of another transfer so if you wanted to write me a letter this
week, Wednesday is the latest absolutely you could send it so I would get it! Also
this week is my 14 month mark on my mission, man time is going by so fast it’s
unreal man.

Every
week there is something new to love and to learn. I feel like I am becoming
more of a man every day, from boy to man in two years is my goal. Service
is awesome here too, so many opportunities. Like this week when we pulled dead
cows from the dairies.

My
entire mission I have been trying to follow the spirit so much, so I could have
one of the stories where I was like knocking a street and that person was
praying for us to come and save their life or something like that. And I don’t
think I have had one in a long long time, if I have, but I was kind of down
trodden this week about it then we met with Kandy:). Kandy just got baptized as
you already know, but she never really opened up about the first time we met
until we sat down with her the other day. She said that right before Elder Marchant
and I knocked on her door, she was at a cross roads in her life. She could pick
either path, one that would lead her to worldly happiness and the other that
would lead her ultimately to destruction. So she prayed for God to send her a
sign. Literally the second she said amen, we knocked on the doorJ. I am so grateful for
the Spirit of God. She then explained that, when she saw us she had to hold
back tears because she could feel the Spirit of God in us and on us, it
was tangible. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is so much different than just merely
feeling it. It is a gift that you and other people can literally see. People
know when you are a disciple of Christ. They can tell. We are different from
the world and let’s keep it that way.

Another
story for ya this week! Okay so we were looking for service and our friend runs
a business where you go around to all of the dairies and pull the dead cows,
put them in a trailer and bring them to the slaughter house for them to make
dog food out of. Well this week we were helping him and there was a cow with
cancer that we had to put down. But we had to chase it first. So we got into
the cattle barn/corral place and chased a 1000 cows down to get that one with
cancer cornered. After we got it we killed it, but our friend lost his phone
and we were looking everywhere for it. Then I had the idea to pray and they
were like “no we don’t need to for something like this”...I prayed anyway and
after I prayed I looking up and I saw the phone instantly. Prayer works, even
for the little things so never be afraid to pray. Ever, even if you are in the
middle of a whole bunch of dead cows and poop don’t be afraid to pray! Can I
get an amen!

Haha
I love you guys so much, be safe out there in the big bad world. I will just be
here kickin in a little town for the next week. Remember who you are and what
you stand for. We all want to change the world, let’s do it on step at a time.

Monday, September 8, 2014

God
bless this beautiful land of Mexico, New Mexico, but everyone here just pretty
much calls it Mexico so I guess I did get to serve a foreign mission!

This
week was so cool there was a baptism, not by us, but the Spanish sister missionaries
had one here and it was way rad.

So
this week we got to dog-sit for our neighbors across the way for an entire week
while they were off for her job, and while we were taking care of them we
decided to leave a Book of Mormon on their couch as the spirit directed, and
low and behold when they got home Sunday night they picked it up and
read it. They also appreciated how well we took care of their animals and how
much pride we took in our home and things. They then wanted to live like that
even more too. As members of the Church we take upon us the name of Christ, and
I do not believe that Christ’s house would be a dump, so we need to treat
everything that God gives us with respect and love, because people will notice
and I mean God gave it to us, He deserves it.

So
further with the Spanish baptism, we took Cindy to it. Cindy does not speak a
word of Spanish and neither do we. But during the entire thing she was crying
and she said she felt the spirit stronger then she had in forever and she knew this
is what she needed to do. I think God’s word alone is amazing because no matter
what language it’s in, if it is truth, the spirit will be there and the
spirit will tell us of truth even if we don’t understand all the words. Truly
think about that though, that alone is incredible and proof enough to me that
there is a God. God is so incredible I love Him more every day.
This week was a keeper.